Philadelphia Eagles: Miles Sanders is going down swinging

When Miles Sanders broke his hand midway through the Philadelphia Eagles Week 16 win over the New York Giants, it put his status for the playoffs very much up in the air.

Sure, the third-year pro out of Penn State avoided a trip to IR, which would have effectively ended his season right then and there, but unless he was going to go under wraps and play with a massive club on his arm, what were the chances he’d actually take the field a month later?

Whatever the odds were, if you bet on him playing, you probably feel pretty good right about now.

That’s right, after being a fixture of the team’s injury report over the past few weeks, Miles Sanders is officially at practice for the Philadelphia Eagles and fully intends to take the field versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in some way, shape, or form. Why? Because if your season is on the line, you might as well go down swinging.

The Philadelphia Eagles could still use Miles Sanders on Wildcard Weekend.

Running backs are taught to secure the ball with two hands before they take off running.

Do some RBs – I’m looking at you, Shady McCoy – get a bit cute with it and run around with the rock chicken wing’d between their wrist and elbow from time to time? Sure, but that’s just asking for trouble, especially when facing off against a defender with “Peanut” Tillman tendencies.

Furthermore, while running back are taught to secure the ball with two hands, they almost always do so with their primary arm serving as the primary bolder holder, with the off-hand used more as support a la how one shoots a basketball.

Why, you may ask, is this relevant? Well, because Sanders won’t really be able to secure the ball with two hands if one is wrapped up in a hybrid cast/club, especially when the hand in question just so happens to be his dominant one.

Can Sanders theoretically still impact a game with those limitations in place? Sure, his athleticism, burst, and agility are very much still intact, but it’s not like he’s going to be able to catch the ball all that well beyond the line of scrimmage and might not be ideally suited to truck his way through the middle of congested trenches.

Needless to say, if Nick Sirianni wants to deploy a “Sanders package” versus the Bucs, he’ll need to manufacture looks in space, where his top rusher will be afforded more one-on-one coverage opportunities without the Fourteen Fists of McCluskey going at the ball. I’m talking outside zones, stunts, and maybe even some sweeps with Sanders deployed in the slot. While it might not be wise to target Sanders on wide receiver-style routes, save those for Kenneth Gainwell, he could still be a decently effective weapon in the screen game, especially if he perfects the hand/club catch with blockers keeping him clean before possession is secured.

Even if the dynamic trio of Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Jordan Howard are the Birds’ primary on-the-ground options, having Sanders available as a viable option not only adds another wrinkle to the offense but forces Todd Bowles to prepare for another offensive wrinkle, which can be just as useful heading into a winner-takes-all bout against the reigning Super Bowl champions.

If the Bucs “waste” even an hour this week on preparing for Sanders, his active status will be well worth not suiting up a reserve cornerback like Kary Vincent.

Whether Miles Sanders actually impacts the game in Week 19 or serves as more of a Todd Bowles time waster, his willingness to take the field for the Philadelphia Eagles with a totally not 100 percent healed hand deserves a ton of respect. Where some players would call it a season, go in for surgery, and look ahead to their contract year, the pride of Pittsburgh is taping up his hand, throwing on the pads, and leaving it all on the field with his teammates in tow.